Wings Of Fire
epilogue “Hvitur, an IceWing, attempts to steal a large SkyWing egg from Queen Scarlet's Palace. However, he gets captured by Queen Scarlet's ally, one of the three contenders for the SandWing throne, Princess Burn. She realizes that he is a member of the Talons of Peace and then drops the egg off a cliff, supposedly ruining The Dragonet Prophecy. She then kills Hvitur by shredding his wings and stabbing him through his skull with her venomous tail. She then throws his corpse off the cliff and flew away, telling her soldiers about wanting to kill something else. Sometime later, Kestrel, a fellow member of the Talons of Peace, recovers the eggshell and brings it back to a cave underneath an unknown mountain in Claws of the Clouds Mountains. She informs Webs, another Talons of Peace member, of the egg's destruction and Hvitur's death. Webs inform her that Asha, the member who delivered a MudWing egg, died, caught in a battle between the two other contenders for the throne, Princess Blaze and Princess Blister. Kestrel gets frustrated and says they should just break all the eggs they had retrieved and run away before the rest of the Talons of Peace come for the Dragonets of Destiny. Webs disagrees with her and insists that they need a fifth dragonet. Kestrel tells him that the SkyWing palace hatchery would be heavily guarded by now, and it would be foolish to come running back for another egg; so Webs instead goes to find a RainWing egg to replace the SkyWing egg while Kestrel gripes about it not being a SkyWing. chapter 1: Under the Mountain The main timeline begins six years later, with Clay, the MudWing dragonet, reflecting on the position and importance he thought he could never have. However, he does this during a training battle with infamously grumpy Kestrel. The SkyWing taunts him and then pins him down. Before she can do any more harm to him, the SeaWing Dragonet of Destiny, Tsunami, bites Kestrel's tail, yanking out a scale. After the SkyWing leaves the cave, Tsunami proceeds to shove Clay into the freezing river and then reflects on their desire to leave the cave to make their own life. Then Tsunami proposes and discusses the idea of leaving the mountain early with Clay. Proceeding to study with Sunny, an odd-looking SandWing, Clay meets with Starflight, the Nightwing from the prophecy, and Glory, a beautiful, intelligent, grumpy RainWing substitute for the dead SkyWing, along with Tsunami, in the study cave. The group begins to play out the death of Queen Oasis at the hands of a scavenger, the split decision of Burn, Blister, and Blaze as the next SandWing queen, and finally, the allegiances. Kestrel interrupts this, rudely insulting them and calling Tsunami out as the ringleader. That night, they learn of the upcoming arrival of Morrowseer. Clay and Tsunami, the only two able to stay in the underground river for extended periods of time due to their tribes' natural abilities, overhear this information underwater. Meanwhile, Glory and Starflight run to their spying places in time to hear them mentioning Morrowseer telling the prophecy. Morrowseer arrives the following day, and as he inspects them, he angrily calls out Glory, deeming her unworthy. He then suddenly attacks Tsunami, and Clay and Sunny attack him, prompting him to accept them. Both Glory and Starflight stay idle during the fight. However, Morrowseer calls out Starflight to have a private audience. The two leave and the guardians turn on Tsunami. After Starflight returns, Clay speaks to him, noting his reluctance. Clay then sees Tsunami being chained, and she tells him to spy on the guardians after they adjourn to their cave. He overhears their plot to kill Glory to appease Morrowseer. The group frantically decides to send Clay down the freezing underground river to save her, after much thought. Acting on advice from Starflight, he manages to get into a cavern full of glowworms, which he, for a moment, mistook for stars. He heard roaring past the calm pool as he stepped out of the water, finding a stream. When Clay tries to follow the stream, he comes into contact with a white substance that started to poison his scales. He falls unconscious but is later roused by Tsunami, who cleanses him of the substance. Then, the duo cascade over a waterfall. Having it revealed Tsunami dislocated her wing, he saves her from falling to her death and encounters mud, after which, Clay relocates Tsunami's wing. The pair then encounters a scavenger with treasure, who is in turn killed by Queen Scarlet. The queen of the SkyWings then asks them their purpose and calls Tsunami a spy. Having weeded them out, she asks them to return with her. Then, a nod from Clay, Tsunami impales Scarlet's tail to the ground to escape, and they flee towards the peaks. Afterward, they follow the smoke signal to free the others. However, the signal also attracts Scarlet, and the entire group (minus Dune, who is killed by Queen Scarlet, and Webs, who escapes) is taken hostage by the SkyWings. chapter 2: In the Sky Kingdom The layout of the prisoners has them chained to rock spires in a circle over the arena. On Clay's second day, an unusual female dragonet drops a charred piece of prey in front of him. Sickened, he throws up over the edge, which to his surprise, a copper dragon prisoner laughs at. She asks him if he is going to eat, commenting she didn't want him to die before she had a chance to kill him. She tells him that, because they're allies, she has not fought a MudWing before, but the NightWing would be "blazing". She then informs him that her name is Peril, the Queen's champion, and points out Tsunami and Starflight. Clay is on the opposite side of Starflight, with Tsunami in between them along the circle. He then realizes that Sunny and Glory were not held in the arena. Clay tells her that if she asks Starflight for information about any history, he wouldn't stop talking. She took the joke seriously and flew off to ask Starflight. The following day, Peril goes into the arena, and she faces off against a SandWing named Horizon. Scarlet then reveals Glory, who is chained to a tree and her scales are changing colors in the sunlight. She is being treated gently and with care. Clay is forced to watch, as just a simple touch from Peril menacingly burns Horizon. He worries about eventually having to face Peril, now knowing she had fire in her claws. In the end, Horizon throws himself on to Peril for a quick death. That night, Peril returns. She tells him the story of having too much fire, that she killed her brother, and her mother abandoned her. Clay is terrified to learn that Starflight is next in line to fight, and he tells Peril to make it sound as if she has the idea to put Clay in his place. After much resentment, Peril agrees. In the morning, guards escort him, Tsunami, and Starflight to Scarlet's throne room, and she asks which one of them could fight against an IceWing. Clay denounces Tsunami and Starflight, so she puts him in. He is pitted against an IceWing named Fjord. The fight officially begins, and Clay attempts to convince him he does not have to fight. Deciding to ignore him, Fjord attacks. Using SkyWing tactics, Clay surprises Fjord. However, he is soon pinned. In an attempt to get into the arena, Tsunami throws herself off of the edge of her rock spire, nearly choking and pulling all of the other prisoners off. As everyone was distracted, a jet of unknown substance splatters on Fjord's face and completely melts it and had eventually killed Fjord. Clay is taken away, re-chained, and once again confronted by Peril. Peril decides to tell Clay where Sunny is if he would do something for her. Clay agrees, and Peril tells Clay that Sunny is perfectly fine. Peril tells Clay that he has to let her hide behind him during a trial because Scarlet wouldn't let her go. He agrees and then realizes that the trial is Kestrel's and that Kestrel could be Peril's mother. He fears what Kestrel will do when she realizes her daughter isn't dead. The following day, Scarlet, and two dragons, Osprey and Prince Vermilion, host Kestrel’s trial. Scarlet is biased for Vermilion's side, the prosecution. He simply explains that Scarlet gave an order, Kestrel disobeyed, and fled the Sky Kingdom. However, Osprey tells the true story. In reality, Kestrel was a loyal soldier and was ordered to join the breeding program, yielding an egg with two dragonets inside. One (Peril) had taken all the fire from the other, Peril's unnamed brother. As per SkyWing custom, Kestrel was ordered to kill both and leave the breeding program for the remainder of her life. Kestrel had tried to escape with the two dragonets, only to be caught by Scarlet at the Diamond Spray River. Scarlet explains that Kestrel had a chance to live if she killed one of her dragonets. Kestrel chose the male dragonet to kill and did it with her own claws, but Queen Scarlet changed her mind. Kestrel tried to escape with Peril, but was burned by touch and was forced to flee without her. That is why Kestrel is known to have burn scars on her palms. Peril launches herself into the arena, defending Kestrel with the Champion's Shield, a tradition that allows her to stand for the prisoner by fighting a combatant in the arena. Scarlet figured out that Osprey's words had educated Peril of the Champion's Shield, since Peril cannot hold scrolls because of her firescales. Scarlet, angered, kills Osprey by picking him up and dropping him from the sky, since he can't fly due to his broken tail. Peril attempts to save him, but realizes she can't save him due to her firescales burning him. After Osprey's death, Scarlet dismisses Peril. That night, Burn arrives to collect Sunny (for her collection of weird dragons and objects) and celebrate Scarlet's hatching day. Clay, in a futile attempt to communicate with Peril, uses a wire she burned through to start playing a song, The Dragonet's Song. Soon, all the prisoners in the arena begin to sing and play. Scarlet, angered, takes him, Tsunami, and Starflight into Peril's room, and makes Peril leave the room. Scarlet places rocks that burn in the entrance to assure they won't escape. Then, Starflight notices Peril and uses her to escape the room. On the way out, they notice Sunny over the main hall. However, Peril betrays them. Clay accidentally touches Peril, thus figuring out he is immune to fire. The SkyWing queen] takes them back, and Starflight explains Clay's immunity. The following day, Tsunami is taken into the arena, and Clay and Starflight are taken to Scarlet's balcony. Tsunami faces off against an insane SeaWing, Gill, and pins him down, explaining that she won without killing him. Queen Scarlet mocks her, saying that she is too scared of fighting and war, and Tsunami snaps Gill’s neck in retaliation. Starflight is next to fight against Tsunami, but the two refuse to fight. Then, they are forced to face scavengers. Two of the four were killed, and they are told to face IceWings. At that moment, Morrowseer arrives with NightWing soldiers, killing the IceWings, and then saves only Starflight. Scarlet, enraged, finally places Clay against Peril. Caught off guard by Clay's immunity, she is pinned. Scarlet shouts, "Use your venom! That was thrilling, and I didn't even get to see it last time!" Then, Glory rears up, breaks free of the tree, and spits venom at Burn, who shoves Scarlet in front of her. The venom hits Scarlet’s face, and then all the dragons at the arena flee in terror. In the pandemonium, Clay, Tsunami, Glory and Peril manage to escape into the main hall. There, they use Peril to melt through the bars on Sunny's cage. An argument ensues about saving Kestrel, with Clay, Peril, and Sunny voting yes. They proceed to rescue her, and Kestrel informs them of where their eggs were taken from. Then, after Kestrel flies off, Clay, Tsunami, Glory and Sunny decide to swim towards the Mud Kingdom, where Clay expects to find his family. chapter 3: An Egg the Color of Dragon Blood Clay, Tsunami, Glory and Sunny use their camouflage skills to glide down the river. As they come to a waterfall, they overlook a battlefield and then disappear into the MudWing Kingdom. Clay and Glory go on, with Sunny and Tsunami staying behind. They encounter a troop of MudWings battle training, and Clay learns his mother is Cattail. Then, they find her, and she indifferently tells them that she does not care; she sold him to the Talons of Peace for two cows. Crushed, Clay leaves, and they encounter his siblings, who explain who he is and why he attacked the eggs at hatching (Apparently, he was not actually attacking them. It was the MudWing instinct of helping your siblings out of their shells). At peace with himself, he leaves, and then Clay, Tsunami, Glory and Sunny are met by Starflight, who explains that Queen Coral will be excited to meet her daughter, Tsunami, by The Kingdom of the Sea. Epilogue That night, Morrowseer, Blister, and Kestrel meet on a small rocky island on Bay of a Thousand Scales in Kingdom of the Sea. There, Morrowseer tells Blister of his plan to use Starflight as an agent to convince the other dragonets that they should choose her to be the new SandWing queen. Kestrel asks what they are talking about, as she cannot hear them over the howling wind. They do not reply, and Blister then questions Kestrel's attendance. Kestrel responds that Morrowseer said the dragonets were in danger. He then implies that was a plot to get her to come to the island, and then states that she has failed him. Kestrel attempts to argue, saying that she works for the Talons of Peace, and not Morrowseer. However, she is soon killed by Blister and pushed over the cliffside. After discarding Kestrel, Morrowseer informs Blister to eliminate Webs. The book ends when Blister commands Morrowseer to find the dragonets, and bring them to her, saying that if he does, they will both get what they want.